A former Brandon Township man will spend at least the next 50 years in prison.

The man, who repeatedly sexually assaulted his young daughter for several years in Brandon, was sentenced Jan. 22 by Sixth Circuit Court Judge Colleen O'Brien to serve 25 years in prison concurrently on four counts of criminal sexual conduct, first degree (person under 13). He will serve a fifth count of CSC, first degree, consecutively for an additional 25 years in prison. The man, whose identity The Citizen is withholding to protect the identity of the victim and her family, will not be eligible for parole until he is 84-years-old.

"In over 20 years of law enforcement, this is the most heinous case I've been involved in," said Oakland County Sheriff's Office Detective Dale Brown. "The abuse inflicted on this little girl by her biological father escapes comprehension. I am extremely satisfied with the jury's verdict and the judge's sentence."

According to police reports, Brown and Brandon deputies responded on May 6 to Genesys Regional Medical Center in Grand Blanc after the victim's mother took her child there and reported her daughter had been sexually assaulted by the child's biological father.

The child reported the most recent assault had occurred the day before while her mother and siblings were gone at a store. She told police her father had been sexually assaulting her for the past three to four years and had threatened to "murder her" if she told anyone. After the May 5 assault, she told her sister, who subsequently informed their mother. A medical exam substantiated the child's claims and interviews with the little girl established four specific assaults dating back to when she was in Kindergarten.

Following a three-day trial in December, a jury deliberated less than 90 minutes before finding the man, 34, guilty of all five counts of criminal sexual conduct, first degree (person under 13).

The victim and her family have relocated outside of Oakland County.

"She is just starting on a lifelong journey of healing," said Brown. "Sexual assault is devastating to an adult. The devastation is compounded astronomically when perpetrated on a child by her father."